4th of July

 We had a beautiful, sunny and hot 4th of July this year. It was warm enough that we decided to skip the parade and take the kids to a movie. We usually go to the dollar theater after the movies have been out a while, but we decided to go see the new Pixar movie "Brave." It was pretty cute, even though it was a little scary. We had lunch afterwards and Jeff took the older boys to pick up a few last fireworks for the evening while I put Emily down for a nap.
We were originally going to go see the big fireworks downtown, but we ended up getting together with some friends to play, eat, and set off our collection of fireworks instead. Between Jeff and Ewan's collections alone, we had enough firepower to demolish a small building! There were some pretty impressive fireworks. It was pretty comical to watch the pyros at work- that included all the fathers and most of the boys.

 The kids had fun running through sprinklers and sliding down the slip 'n slide that afternoon before we started the fireworks. They pretty much ran back and forth between the water and the dessert table. Emily was in heaven with all the girls taking care of her and playing with her. We love these girls- they are wonderful!

 With the men taking care of the firepower and the kids playing and having so much fun together, we women enjoyed sitting back watching the show, taking pictures, and talking. Perfect way to spend the evening if you ask me!

 We were fortunate to end the evening without any casualties - if you don't count Matthew's shirt which happened to be the bulls eye for a stray bottle rocket. I'm grateful it wasn't anything serious, he was fine. But it was pretty funny to see his reaction. It scared him more than anything.

 It was so fun to watch all the fireworks go up and see the kids doing their sparklers. It was sure fun to be able to celebrate the holiday with friends. And it really makes you reflect on what a blessing it is to live in a country where we are so blessed to have freedom. I'm grateful for all those who have sacrificed for this great country.

 I couldn't resist this picture of Emily. She didn't like the really loud fireworks. Funny girl!